The festival, which will run through Aug. 8, brings together Turkey’s most successful handcraft artists through research done by the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Research and Education Directorate. “I was asked by the ministry to join this year’s event. I have been doing pottery with green glaze, which is extremely rare nowadays,” says Bekir Uludağ, from Tokat, speaking to Today’s Zaman at the fair. “Since it is hard to produce green glaze, which is a natural glaze form, people do not chose to make it anymore. I have been doing and teaching this art and will continue to do so for the rest of my life,” he adds.Aimed at preserving traditional arts from various parts of Anatolia, some of which it is feared are at risk of extinction, the festival has brought together around 80 handcraft artists from 32 cities in Turkey and eight different countries. It features more than 40 different arts, including çini (glazed tiles), ebru (paper marbling), meerschaum, Ottoman calligraphy and pottery and glass work, as well as the production of togas, saddles, rosaries, pearls and colored cotton kerchiefs.
Dressed in traditional Aydın clothing, İzzet Bey, who produces leather boots that are unique to Efe culture, explains that a traditional handmade körüklü (folded) boot takes 15 days to produce. “I am extremely happy to present our local culture here in İstanbul and we are all thankful to the Culture Ministry and the Beyoğlu Municipality for this opportunity,” he emphasizes.
The festival not only attracts the attention of Turkish people, but also that of Turkey’s many tourists. Having the advantage of being held in a touristic area of İstanbul, it attracts a lot of visitors who are interested in watching the process of producing handcrafts. “The number of tourists from Arab countries in particular increased over the last two years,” says sedef artist Remzi Demir from Gaziantep. In addition to traditional Turkish artists, artists from countries such as Romania, Syria, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Iraq and Iran also have stands in this year’s festival.
Even though there are expensive pieces, priced up to TL 1,000, at the stands, many items are available for as little as TL 1. Sales levels are parallel to the Turkish economy, most of the artists say, implying that they have not been selling as much as they would have liked. “Of course it is not important how much we sell, it is the atmosphere and the event itself,” says cane artist Umut Sarı from Zonguldak. “People think that TL 100 is too much for a cane, for example, but if they produce the cane and decorate it as we do, they would not even give it away for TL 500,” he explains, adding that he has been doing this art for 11 years. “It is very hard to find people to learn this art anymore. Mandatory education is nine years and most of the students also study at university. In such a case nobody is interested in handcrafts anymore. If there were not events like this, I would not have been able to continue my art, either,” Sarı explains, emphasizing that although they are thankful to the organizers of the event, one festival a year is not enough. “We do not want any financial help from ministries or municipalities, but we need more support in other ways,” he stresses.
Although the festival is due to end on Sunday, most of the stands will continue to display their work during Ramadan, as well, as they have done in previous years. There are also concerts from bands including MFÖ, Grup 84 and Dolapdere Big Gang every night in the park area throughout the festival.
